Learning what is new in web development – Synergy Codes at Front-Trends 2016

Learning what is new in web development – Synergy Codes at Front-Trends 2016

Synergy Codes

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9 min
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Learning what is new in web development – Synergy Codes at Front-Trends 2016

Would you like to learn a recipe for most efficiently spent time? Take three skilled web developers from Synergy Codes, three days at Front-Trends 2016 conference and one big idea: self-development. Asia, Monia and Artur were our representatives and had an amazing time there – they learned what is new, exchanged their ideas with front-end experts from around the world and enjoyed some creative chill-out in the meantime. This is their brief story and review of what they experienced.

WHAT IS FRONT-TRENDS?

Front-Trends is an annual conference independently organized since 2010 by a team of volunteers, who fully commit themselves to the idea of “bringing forward-thinking technophiles together from all over the globe“. As the name suggests, the conference is mainly focused on latest trends and practices in front-end, web design and other related subjects.

Every following Front-Trends has been more epic than its predecessor, which has led it to become one of Europe’s most established IT conferences. The latest edition, that took place in well-designed and inspiring Space Club in Warsaw during May 18-20th 2016, proved to be an example of an excellent industry event.

Three days of the conference were filled up with 22 inspiring presentations, each approximately 30-40 minutes long and conducted by industry experts known worldwide. There was also some time in between for a session of lightning talks and a few refreshment breaks.

Not only did the organizers choose a fantastic venue for the main event, but also for after-hour parties. In the evening before the first day of the conference, every front-ender (even not the registered participants!) could enjoy themselves at an open mixer party in Klub Medyka. If anyone had missed that, another epic party was organized in Concept 13 after the second day of the event.

Enough describing Front-Trends – now let’s find out how Asia, Monia and Artur enjoyed it!

WHAT MADE OUR DEVS ATTEND FRONT-TRENDS?

Asia: I had heard about the conference a long time ago, but had never had an opportunity to attend it. This time, Synergy Codes enabled us to go, so I gave it a shot. Expectations? Hmm… I had expected high-quality presentations and I received it 🙂

Monia: We wanted to get to know what’s new, learn about the trends and good practices. I had expected the presentations to be interesting – the previous editions had touched a lot of out-of-the-box ideas, so I assumed this event would not be different. Front-Trends location was really close to us, so that was another factor for going.

Artur: My buddy had recommended Front-Trends to me. He had told me it had been great and definitely worth attending – giving opportunities to meet and talk with people with international background and befriend reputable speakers. As we had been registering, there had been no agenda yet, so we had to base on previous editions while deciding to go. Tickets sold out quickly, as there had been quite a lot of hype around the event.

WHAT IMPRESSED THEM THE MOST?

Asia: One of the most inspiring subjects was “Our eternal digital afterlife“, presented by Alberta Soranzo. It made us think about something, that we rarely want to talk about – death. The audience was challenged with finding a way to take care of the digital graveyard full of social media accounts and data left by every person passing away. Perhaps this will lead someone to come up with a successful solution for this.

Monia: There was a lot of interesting information shared, especially about reactive JS. I really liked the fact, that presentations were not only about technical issues but also on subjects of self-development and life in general. I entirely agree with Asia’s impression on “Our eternal digital afterlife” – it was a true eye-opener. To the list of extraordinary subjects, I would add Mariko Kosaka‘s talk on “Computer Assisted Arts and Crafts” where she explained how we can apply programming skills to craft projects. As she said, she had even programmed some fabric-producing machine using JavaScript!

Artur: From my point of view, most of the presentations served as a decent knowledge consolidation. Of course, there were some new things I could learn – especially those shared by Rachel Nabors during “The web in motion” presentation. I also enjoyed the “Syntax Highlight Everything” by Kenneth Ormandy, showing how front-end development is influenced by design rules invented centuries ago.

WHAT COULD THEY DO BETWEEN THE TALKS?

Asia: The volunteers, who took care of organizing the parties, were very helpful. They selected superb places and kept checking out if everyone had fun and was fine. During the event, there were also some nice time killers, including table football, escape room and opportunity to play some counter-strike.

Monia: I agree, both parties and the conference were organized in fabulous places (that disco ball in Space Club!). We could speak directly with the presenters, give them feedback and ask questions in a friendly atmosphere. There was a chance to integrate with the organizers as well.

Artur: That’s right. And we could taste some really extraordinary craft beers. Let’s not forget about lightning talks, where attendees could present their ideas, projects or any other subject in a maximum of 5 minutes. We still hum Maciej Korsan’s “Frontend is an art” ukulele song  😉 As we got to know, there are always some attendees willing to sing during lightning talks.

ANY FINAL THOUGHTS OR OPINIONS?

Asia:  I really liked the fact, that all presentations were organized linearly, so we were able to attend all of them. Another thing is, the conference was transmitted on tv screens around the Space Club, enabling us to watch it everywhere we were. 

Monia: It’s the people, who make this event great – the conference showed how creative and open-minded they can be. There were some funny moments, especially when we learned how to say “12 months” in Estonian 🙂

Artur: Front-Trends volunteers proved to be the best organizers ever! And I forgot to add – the food was great too! For sure we will be interested in attending next edition.  

Asia, Monia, Artur: Front-Trends, we will miss you! 🙂